Whereas most Inspection Saloons were converted from older vehicles, the Q13 were purpose-built examples. They were shorter than most other coaches built around the time, standing at 52ft long.

Although designed by the Great Western Railway under the tenure of then CME, F.W. Hawksworth, the Diagram Q13 saloons didn’t enter traffic until shortly after the Nationalisation Act of 1948.

7 of the type were built at Swindon works in 1948 with many characteristics of the later GWR coaches.

Inspection saloons, otherwise known as Engineer’s Saloons, were used as a means of assessing the track and infrastructure over a large area in a relatively short amount of time. This necessitated large windows on both ends of the coach. They weren’t fitted with any controls other than a vacuum brake and speedometer. But they were even fitted out with kitchens.

All 7 examples have been preserved and restored to working order. They are very popular being used as observation saloons for a small supplementary fare. At the time of writing, they can be seen at the following railways:

80943 – Dean Forest Railway

80969 – Severn Valley Railway

80970 – Great Central Railway

80972 – Severn Valley Railway

80974 – North Yorkshire Moors Railway

80975 – Llangollen Railway

80976 – Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway (on loan from the West Somerset Railway)